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+--- Thread: Tax and spend Harry wants to raise taxes (/showthread.php?tid=18270)
Tax and spend Harry wants to raise taxes - Obie - 04-12-2017
In today's Tribune is an article about Harry Kim wanting to raise taxes and fees to balance the budget.
In the meantime Hawaii County employees are the highest paid in the nation.
http://hawaiifreepress.com/ArticlesMain/tabid/56/ID/19042/County-workers-in-Hawaii-make-highest-wages-in-the-nation.aspx
When you can't get a building permit in a reasonable amount of time, Do you think we re getting a good deal ?
RE: Tax and spend Harry wants to raise taxes - leilanidude - 04-12-2017
Civil "service" takes on a whole new meaning here... High wages with benefits that aren't seen in the private sector and a complete lack of care about trying to do a good job for the customer - those of us who pay taxes.
RE: Tax and spend Harry wants to raise taxes - Kapoho Joe - 04-12-2017
I have heard first hand from several locals (born & raised) that getting a county, state, or federal job is the golden ticket. Hard to get fired, no reason to work hard.
RE: Tax and spend Harry wants to raise taxes - kalakoa - 04-12-2017
http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/news/local-news/some-tax-fee-hikes-table-budget-unknowns-cause-county-look-options-generate
Every year it's the same thing: "we can't figure out the budget because we don't know how much TAT we're getting from State".
Can we just delegate TAT to the Counties already? Hotel revenue should really stay on the island where it's generated. Yes, I realize that this dilutes State's control, but it's long past time for the Counties to have their own economy.
(Yes, "legalize the weed and tax it" might work, but that won't happen until we get a younger Legislature.)
RE: Tax and spend Harry wants to raise taxes - glassnumbers - 04-12-2017
Always found it weird that older people support a structure where the cartels make the money off of weed, instead of normal people and the government. I understand the older generation's desire against drugs, but I also understand that funding is a big deal to them as well. Given that funding is the lifeblood of any capitalist system, it should take precedence over their personal discomfort/bad past experiences with weed. Especially when its the bad guys making the money, by keeping weed illegal, we are just giving cartels money. It's so stupid how the law perpetuates some of the worst forms of crime.
Aloha
RE: Tax and spend Harry wants to raise taxes - kalakoa - 04-12-2017
older people support a structure where the cartels make the money off of weed
Good summary of Hawaii's "dispensary" system. I think they "awarded" the licenses a year ago this month. None are planned to open yet.
the bad guys making the money, by keeping weed illegal
Also good summary of Hawaii's "enforcement" system -- not just a "money" thing, but also a massive "control" thing, and decriminalization/legalization is always opposed by those who would lose their jobs.
Colorado made $150M in weed tax revenue for 2016.
RE: Tax and spend Harry wants to raise taxes - Chunkster - 04-12-2017
It would never occur to Harry or any other "electable" politician to look for ways to make county workers more efficient so that the workforce could be reduced by natural attrition. Forget about letting people go for poor performance. The near total lack of accountability makes that almost impossible. The term "electable" is critical here because in a state and county were 50% voter turnout is considered good, the numerous and always dependable public employees vote en masse to keep their gravy train running.
I should note that in one of those perverse anomalies that could only happen here, the ethically impaired Billy Kenoi did manage to keep county services running with fewer personnel when the Great Recession hit at the beginning of his first term. There were furloughs and a hiring freeze that forced county workers to do more with less. Of course, as soon as the crisis passed, we went back to business as usual.
RE: Tax and spend Harry wants to raise taxes - randomq - 04-12-2017
So, voting does not seem to change this outcome. What do we do to put the county in it's place? Or should I just apply for one of these cushy jobs?
RE: Tax and spend Harry wants to raise taxes - kalakoa - 04-12-2017
should I just apply for one of these cushy jobs?
That's what I've been thinking: what if everyone simply worked for County? With enough payroll tax, we could afford anything we wanted, right?
RE: Tax and spend Harry wants to raise taxes - HereOnThePrimalEdge - 04-12-2017
what if everyone simply worked for County?
It would speed up the process for everything. Everybody would require some form of government interaction from everyone else.
"Hey, I need this building permit issued today. I'll give you a marker for your driver's license renewal, OK?. I'll get you straight in and out in a minute or two."
You could never convince a monkey to give you a banana by promising him limitless bananas after death in monkey heaven.